Amsterdam
Sir Muirhead Bone
Description
Subject Matter:
Throughout his career, Muirhead Bone frequently depicted urban scenes such as this one, in which the play of light and shadow is dramatized, and humans are dwarfed by the built environment that surrounds them (see also the 1925 print A Spanish Good Friday, 1985/2.15). This drawing features a Gothic church in a nocturnal setting. A single figure highlights the scale of the building, while a light source from outside of the pictorial space, presumably the moon, illuminates the scene. It is possible that the work depicts a church in Amsterdam given that the artist has inscribed the drawing with both his signature and the name of the city.
Physical Description:
This drawing depicts part of a large, Gothic-style church with lancet windows and buttresses, seen at night. Around the exterior of the building are two trees, a lamppost, four bollards, and a person seen in silhouette. A light source outside the image illuminates part of the church’s large arched window, and casts long shadows that fall to the left side of the composition.
Inscribed on the recto, in pencil, in the image, “M. Bone / Amsterdam”
Usage Rights:
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